Clothes drying devices



Filed Oct; 15. 1966 United States Patent 3,415,386 CLOTHES DRYINGDEVICES George Ogilvie, 12 Livingstone Ave., corner of 3rd St.,Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia Filed Oct. 13, 1966, Ser. No. 586,435Claims priority, application Southern Rhodesia,

Oct. 15, 1965, 386/65 2 Claims. (Cl. 211-418) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREA clothes hanger having a telescopic mechanism so that it can be easilyextended and retracted and which will enable the radial arms to bestowed within the retracted telescopic support. The clothes hangerconsists of a tubular casing having an open ended slot at its bottomend. An outer tube is slidably fixed within the casing by a plungerattached to one end. This outer tube has an internal annular shoulderadjacent its other end. An inner tube is slidable within the outer tubeand has an outwardly flared end portion to co-operate with the annularinternal shoulder of the outer tube. The other end of the inner tube hasa series of radial arms carried by a hub. These arms can be rotated sothat they lie adjacent the axial length of the inner tube and theclothes hanger can be telescopically closed so that the inner tube,outer tube, and radial arms are all within the tubular casing. A pin iscarried at the hub end of the inner tube, which pin engages with theslot in the tubular casing so as to retain the clothes hanger in closedcondition. Preferably the outer tube carries a collar with downwardlyextending skirt for housing the ends of the radial arms when lyingadjacent the inner tube.

This invention relates to hanging device for articles to be freelysuspended for air drying.

More particularly the invention is directed to a hanging device forarticles of clothing which require to be dried indoors after washing.

In modern day living there are at least two primary factors influencingthe need for indoor drying of articles of clothing. Firstly, aconsiderable percentage of present day wearing apparel, especially thatwhich is generally washed as opposed that which is dry cleaned, consistsof garments manufactured in synthetic textile materials which if hungout of doors in strong sunlight are subject to discolouration. This isunderstood to be expressly true in regard to the yellowing of whitesynthetic textile materials which can be avoided almost completely ifthe garments are hung indoors away from direct sunlight.

Secondly, outdoor hanging facilities for drying clothes are oftenlimited, inconvenient or even nonexistent for the flat dweller or hotelresident to whom indoor hanging facilities would be an asset.

Another factor influencing the occasional need for indoor drying isprecipitate weather conditions.

Numerous hanging devices have been proposed for drying garments indoorsincluding a telescopic support which can be secured to an overheadfixture so as to be suspended therefrom and a series of clothessupporting arms pivoted to the telescopic support so that they can beturned to extend radially outwards and, when not required, turned to asubstantially vertical position to extend adjacent to the retractedtelescopic support.

The present invention has for its object to provide improvements in theconstruction of clothes hangers comprising a telescopic support andpivoted arms carried by the support, the improvements being designed topermit the support to be easily extended and retracted and which willenable the arms to be stowed within the retracted support when notrequired.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described withreference to .the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is an elevation of the hanger in its extended or operableposition,

FIGURE 2 is a view corresponding to FIGURE 1 but showing the hanger insection,

FIGURE 3 is also a sectional elevation of the hanger but showing it inits collapsed or retracted position,

FIGURE 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 3, and

FIGURE 5 shows one of the spokes.

In the drawings the casing, tubes and also the spokes are shown brokenaway at the centre and in FIGURES 1 and 2 for clarity only two spokesareshown.

The hanger as shown in the drawings includes a tubular casing and twotubes 11 and 12, the casing 10 being of substantially greater diameterthan the tube 11 and tube 12 making a sliding fit in tube 11. When tube11 is telescoped within the casing 10 it forms therewith an annularhousing 13. The upper end of the casing 10 has securedthereto anoutwardly extending annular flange 14 having holes 15 through whichscrews can be inserted to suspend the hanger from an overhead fixture.For example it can be suspended from the joist of a bathroom ceiling andpositioned directly over the bath. The lower end of casing 10 is openbut it is of restricted diameter as at 10a to retain therein a plunger16 which is secured to the upper end of the tube 11 and makes a slidingfit within the casing 10. The tube 11 towards-its lower end is ofreduced diameter as at 17 so as to form an internal shoulder 18 and atthe foot of this rod is secured an external flange 19 which has a seriesof gaps or notches 20 in its periphery.

The tube 12 is flared outwardly at its upper end as at 21, the flaredend resting on and being supported by the said shoulder when the hangeris extended as shown in FIGURE 2. Secured within the lower end of thetube 12 by a shear pin 22 is a cylindrical plug 23 the foot of which isof reduced diameter as to 23a and is screwthreaded. On the reduced endis fitted a hub 24 and below the hub is a circular supporting member 25with upwardly turned annular wall 26. A nut 27b with wire loop 270 isscrewed on the threaded end of the plug to secure the hub and thesupporting member 25 thereon. The hub is formed with an annular recessin which is; fitted the hinged ends of a series of spokes 27, the spokeshaving eye holes 27d through which is threaded a circlet 27a housed inthe annular recess of the hub. The hanger is shown provided with tenspokes and it will be seen that the annular wall is provided with tengaps or notches 28 evenly spaced apart circumferentially in which thespokes rest when they are in their radially extending positions. Thereare also ten gaps or notches 20 in the flange 19 and there is acorresponding number of similar gaps or notches in the sides forming theannular recess in the hub.

The gaps or notches 20 are positioned to receive the spokes when theyare folded upwards and when the spokes are so folded they may beretained in such position by means of a collar 30 with downwardly turnedskirt 39a which forms an annular recess to receive the free ends of thespokes, the collar being axially slidable on the tube 11.

Any suitable means may be provided to retain the tubes 11 and 12 withinthe outer casing 13. The tubes are retained within the outer casing 10by providing the latter with inverted L or bayonet slots 31 at the footthereof and in providing the tube 12 with a pin 32 which engages theslots when the hanger is retracted.

In use flange 14 is seclured to an overhead fixture, preferably to aceiling joist of a bathroom so that the hanger is suspended over thebath. If the hanger is not required for use the tubes 11 and 12 togetherwith the spokes 27 are all accommodated within the outer casing 10 andtherefore do not constitute an unsightly obstruction. When required thehanger is first extended so that the plunger 16 abuts against therestricted lower end of the casing 10 and the flared end 21 of the tube12 abuts against the shoulder 18 of the tube 11. That is the hanger isnow extended to its limit. The collar 30 is moved upwards to clear theupper ends of the spokes and the spokes are then turned downwards sothat they extend radially outwards and rest in the gaps 28 of the wall26. The articles to be dried are then suspended from the spokes. When noimmediate further use of the hanger is required the spokes are turnedupwards to lie against the tubes 11 and 12, the collar 30 is adjusted toretain the upper ends of the spokes in their upright position and thenthe tube 12 is telescoped upwardly into the tube 11 and both of saidrods telescoped upwardly into the casing 10, the spokes beingaccommodated within the housing 13.

It is found that with ten spokes each about fifteen inches long there isample supporting means for normal requirements. To accommodate thespokes and tubes 11 and 12 the casing 10 is preferably about eighteeninches in length and about one and a quarter inches in diameter.

What I claim is:

1. A clothes hanger comprising a tubular casing adapted at one endthereof to be secured to an overhead fixture and which is of restricteddiameter at its other end, which end has an open ended slot, an outertube supported at one end thereof by a plunger slidable within thecasing and towards its other end being of reduced diameter to form anannular internal shoulder, the outer tube when housed within the casingforming therewith a cylindrical chamber, an inner tube slidable withinthe outer tube and having an outwardly flared end to co-operate with thesaid shoulder, a hub secured to the other end of the inner tube, aseries of arms carried by said hub, which arms can be turned to lieadjacent to the outer tube and to extend radially from the hub, meanscarried by the inner tube to support the arms when they extend radially,and a pin also carried by the inner tube to engage in the slot of thecasing, the tubes and the arms being accommodated in the casing and therods accommodated in said cylindrical chamber when the hanger is notbeing used and the co-operation of the pin with the slot then retainingthe tubes therein, and the plunger co-operating with the re duced end ofthe casing and the flared end of the inner tube co-operating with theinternal shoulder of the outer tube when the tubes are extended.

2. A clothes hanger as claimed in claim 1 in which the outer tubecarries a collar with downwardly extending skirt which forms an annularrecess to receive the upper ends of the arms when turned to lie adjacentto the outer tube.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 495,409 4/1893 Fry 211 1,113,16910/1914 Kyllo 211-117 1,178,343 4/1916 Payne et a1 2111 17 XR 1,455,6055/1923 Davis -25 1,642,336 9/1927 Friedrichs 13525 2,091,676 8/1937Fliegner 13525 ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner.

W. D. LOULAN, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 211-172

